Client Overview
Understanding the client's business, audience, and challenges
Client Type
A digital news and media brand covering entertainment, lifestyle, and trending stories for audiences in Uganda.
Target Audience
Young and urban readers in Uganda consuming news and entertainment content primarily via mobile phones.
Market Challenges
- •Slow page load speeds causing high bounce rates
- •Unstructured content categories making it hard for readers to find the stories they care about
- •Weak mobile reading experience despite majority mobile traffic
- •Need for better integration with social media and sharing
- •Competition from other local and regional news sites
The Challenge: Keeping Readers on the Page
Before working with Kico Web Design, Impalaa Updates had strong content but a weak digital experience that made it harder to retain readers.
Slow Loading Pages
Heavy pages and unoptimized assets caused long loading times, especially on mobile data connections.
Unclear Category Structure
Readers struggled to quickly find content by category or topic, reducing session depth.
Subpar Mobile Reading Experience
Text sizing, line spacing, and layout were not optimized for small screens, making long reads uncomfortable.
Limited Social Sharing
Content was not optimized for easy sharing across WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook, limiting organic reach.
Our Approach: Fast, Mobile-First News Experience
We focused on performance, readability, and content discovery to support Impalaa"s growth as a modern Ugandan news brand.
Performance Optimization First
Audited the existing site for speed bottlenecks and re-implemented templates with optimized images, caching, and minimal scripts.
Category & Tag Structure
Organized content into intuitive categories and tags so readers could easily explore related stories.
Mobile Reading UI
Designed a comfortable reading experience with proper typography, spacing, and dark/light-friendly backgrounds.
Stronger Social Integration
Placed share buttons in strategic positions and ensured article previews looked good when shared.
The Solution: A High-Performance Media Platform
We delivered a news and media platform tuned for speed, discovery, and everyday reading on mobile.
Clean Homepage Layout
A structured homepage with featured stories, trending topics, and clear separation between categories like Entertainment, Lifestyle, and News.
Optimized Article Pages
Article templates focused on readability with large images, clean typography, and unobtrusive ads where needed.
Improved Search & Categories
Category index pages and search tools help readers quickly surface content they care about.
Social Sharing & Metadata
Articles include clear share buttons and proper Open Graph tags so links look great when shared on social platforms.
Screenshots & Features
Desktop View
Mobile View
Results & Impact
The new platform helped Impalaa scale readership and improve engagement metrics.
Monthly Readers
Page Load Speed
Social Shares
Key Achievements
• Positioned Impalaa as a modern digital news brand in Uganda
• Improved reader satisfaction through faster performance and better UX
• Created a platform foundation that can handle future content growth
Our readers immediately noticed that the site was faster and easier to use. The redesign from Kico Web Design helped us keep people on the site longer and made it easier for our stories to spread across social media.
Editor
Editor-in-Chief, Impalaa Updates
Why This Project Matters
Digital media in Uganda is growing fast, but many platforms still struggle with speed and mobile user experience. This project shows how performance-focused web design can directly influence readership and engagement for local media brands.
Key Takeaways
Performance optimization is critical for media sites on mobile networks
Clean information architecture improves content discovery
Thoughtful mobile design keeps readers engaged longer
Social integration extends reach without extra ad spend